Wednesday Insider

[Weez]

Buyout mania needs to catch on

By Chad Ford

NBA Insider

Send an Email to Chad Ford Wednesday, October 8

Updated: October 8

9:32 AM ET

The salary cap is a straight jacket. The luxury tax is a swift kick to the butt. But the biggest scourge to any NBA roster is an aging or injured veteran making huge dollars and literally chocking his team out of hope on the floor and cap relief in the future. The overpaid, over-the-hill NBA player has become arsenic.

Has the NBA finally found an antidote?

Mason

In the past few weeks we've seen teams finally get proactive and work to get players who are no longer contributing off the books with buyouts and trades. Anthony Mason worked out one in Milwaukee. Glen Rice got his release from the Jazz just days after he was traded. The Nets got really aggressive, agreeing to pay Dikembe Mutombo $27 million of his $37 million remaining on his contract not to play in New Jersey this season.

Teams have various reasons for making the moves, but almost all of them are financial. With the luxury tax giving teams a dollar-for-dollar penalty for every penny they're over the threshold, teams (and owners) are getting more desperate.

"Most owners in this league want to make money," Grizzlies president Jerry West told Insider. "That's almost impossible to do, especially in the small markets, it you're paying the luxury tax. So that's why you see some of these crazy buyouts and trades. They're not motivated by basketball. It's a different world."

West should know. He was able to steal two big men, Jake Tsakalidis and Bo Outlaw, from the Suns a week ago by offering them three players whose contracts happen to expire next season. GM Bryan Colangelo gave up his starting center and his scrappiest big man defender to get under the luxury-tax threshold next season.

Jazz GM Kevin O'Connor is in an enviable position. With the team roughly $9 million under the cap, he has a luxury that few GMs enjoy. He's been fielding calls for weeks from teams willing to give the Jazz first-round draft picks if they'll take a player making big money off their hands this season. The Jazz got two first-rounders and dumped wayward center John Amaechi to Houston just by agreeing to take Rice's $9 million salary off their hands. The team promptly dumped him and, in the process, freed up even more cap room for next summer.

Will the trend catch on? A few other players appear ripe for a buyout. Antonio Davis is begging to get out of Toronto. No one seems to want to take on his three years, $36 million left on his contract. Will he finally put his money where his mouth is?

Stoudamire

Portland owner Paul Allen promised to clean up his act in Portland, but right now all of the guys who caused the team trouble are still in the locker room. Why not send Damon Stoudamire and Ruben Patterson packing with buyouts? Both want out of Portland and Allen, who's trying to save money anyway, should be able to work out something that works for both sides. Stoudamire has two years, $25 million remaining on his deal. Patterson's contract will be harder to swallow. He's got four years, and $25 million left.

Another trade may also be in the works. Right now the Suns, Grizzlies, Nets, Raptors and Pistons are trying to reduce payroll. With both the Jazz and Nuggets sitting under the cap, don't be surprised if they get offered a sweetheart deal to take a player off their roster.

If the Suns could move Brevin Knight (in the last year of his deal) on to Utah, the team would save roughly $10 million dollars this year. That's worth a draft pick, right?

Around the League

Depending on who you believe, the Knicks appear to be on the verge of completing every rumored deal they've been involved in for the past six years this year. First, they moved Latrell Sprewell to Minnesota in a deal that had been rumored for almost two years. In return they landed Keith Van Horn, another guy Knicks president Scott Layden's been after for years.

Now, in one fell swoop, are the Knicks about to acquire both Dikembe Mutombo and Nick Van Exel? It depends on who you believe. The Mutombo deal seems close to getting done. The Knicks are willing to overpay (to the tune of $10-12 million over the next three years) and Mutombo reportedly doesn't want to pack up and move. He'll clear waivers sometime in the next 24 hours and just about everyone expects him to land in New York shortly thereafter.

Van Exel

The Van Exel stuff is trickier. The New York Post has reported for the past three days that if the Knicks land Mutombo, they're set to deal Kurt Thomas and Charlie Ward to Golden State in return for Van Exel. It makes sense for both teams. The Knicks need firepower and have coveted Van Exel for years. Van Exel wants to play in New York, guaranteeing that he'll show up and play hard most nights. By pulling the trigger on the deal, the Warriors could save $4 million this year (assuming they exercise a two million buyout on Ward's contract), and roughly $7 million next season.

However, the New York Times, citing a Warriors official, is reporting that "absolutely nothing is happening with the Knicks." That's because Chris Mullin, soon to be the Warriors new GM, is in love with Van Exel and honestly believes that he'll lead the Warriors to the playoffs this season. Just about everyone else in the league, however, believes that a disgruntled Nick won't do much more than lead the Warriors to the cellar in a tough Western Conference.

Will Glen Rice land in New Jersey or with the Clippers? Published reports had him going both places this morning. The Nets move makes sense. New Jersey desperately needs shooters who can pull defenses out of the paint. The Clippers rumor makes no sense. If Rice wanted to play for a rebuilding team, why didn't he just stick with the Jazz?

Serbian forward Ognjen Askrabic is in Denver working out for the Nuggets.

Askrabic is one of the best Serbian players still not on an NBA roster. The Mavs flirted with signing him the past two seasons, but contract difficulties with his team, FMP, made it impossible. Askrabic is in the last year of his deal with FMP and the team apparently is willing to talk about a buyout.

The question is, how much are the Nuggets willing to pay? The team needs depth and experience; Askrabic offers both. But without a full training camp to prepare for the season, GM Kiki Vandeweghe sounded skeptical.

"This year is tough," Vandeweghe told the Rocky Mountain News. "Next year, he can be improved. I'd like to see him in a summer conditioning program. A summer of work would help him."

"He really knows how to play basketball," Vandeweghe said. "He's a good shooter and a good passer. Obviously, he has to work on his quickness and defensive abilities."

Peep Show

By Terry Brown

NBA Insider

Wednesday, October 8

Updated: October 8

9:33 AM ET

Detroit Pistons: What happens when you take the league's most boring offense and add in a coach who likes an up tempo game?"We were mixed up and scrambling all night," point guard Chauncey Billups said in the Detroit News. "But it's a learning curve. It's going to be a while for us to jell. We aren't running the same things we did last year. It's going to take some patience." Head coach Larry Brown agreed. "Right now, this is a learning process for me and for the players," he said after the team's first exhibition game. "I am just trying to figure out what these guys can do and what they like to do."

Baker

Boston Celtics: Get ready for the new Vin Baker. "(He) plays like a guy that knows everything you're trying to accomplish, and I think playing very solid basketball," coach Jim O'Brien said in the Boston Herald. "I think he's going to have a heck of a year. He's very light, very mentally focused, extremely confident.'' Baker is preparing to play his first game with the Celtics since being suspended last season and entering alcohol rehab.

Cleveland Cavaliers: The Lorraine Morning Journal is reporting that guard Dajuan Wagner will have surgery perhaps to repair a knee injury sustained near the end of last season. ''That's the only thing we've heard (that he'll have surgery),'' coach Paul Silas said. No other details were available.

Minnesota Timberwolves: Michael Olowokandi has a new best friend whether he likes it or not. "He and I are going to become very friendly," Timberwolves general manager Kevin McHale said in the Pioneer Press. "He'll do all right. Michael has some real skills. He's been gifted body-wise, and he's got a little edge to him. I think you're going to see a very good Michael Olowokandi here." And after five seasons with the lowly Clippers, Olowokandi isn't complaining. "When I came here two or three months ago, I was here for only two days, and in those two days alone, (McHale) made a huge difference," Olowokandi said. "Like I always said, it's a little different when you have coaches teaching you from a textbook or having coaches who really don't know the game as far as playing inside. We have a GM whose job is to put a team together and also was one of the best low-post guys. It's a huge plus."

Chicago Bulls: Eddy Curry is sore. Jamal Crawford is sore. Tyson Chandler is sore. And don't even get us started on Eddie Robinson or Scottie Pippen. "We try to be mindful of how much to push them, but it's a very tough balancing act," coach Bill Cartwright said in the Chicago Tribune. "We pulled back [Tuesday]. We were going to scrimmage a bit, but Tyson and Jamal went down [halfway through practice] so we just reviewed [plays]."

Brown's plays perplex Pistons

Chris McCosky / Detroit News

Rehabbed Baker a go

Steve Bulpett / Boston Herald

Wagner will have surgery

Bob Finnan / Lorain Morning Journal

Olowokandi soon will return to school

Mike Wells / St. Paul Pioneer Press

Players dropping, and so is curtain

K.C. Johnson / Chicago Tribune